Laurence Hall Matheson: 1971-2005....
Entourage
Laurence Hall Matheson: 1971-2005. Certainly one of the quickest opening death scenes ever. Less than 30 seconds in, a dude is mauled by a cougar and I'm the one scared to death. Nice fade into a close-up of Nate being taken away on a stretcher. I loved how David, being the smart brother, chose not to tell Brenda that Nate was with Maggie when he collapsed. Awkward moment No. 1: Brenda showing up at the hospital and seeing Maggie there. Claire to David: "Why is she here?" David (whispering): "Later." Such a perfect brother-sister scene. Meanwhile, back at the campfire, Ruth is about to have sex with Ed Begley Jr., I mean, Hiram. Awkward moment No. 2: Brenda's conversation with Maggie at the hospital after the neurosurgeon (played by Michele Greene from L.A. Law, don't ya know) gave the Nate update. But back to Ruth: The comic highlight of the episode was, of course, the dream sequence shootout , with Ruth taking down all her former amours with a rifle. Too funny. This scene was followed by two truly happy moments — the first being Claire finally finding happiness with a man. By the way, close your eyes and Lauren Ambrose is totally Marilu Henner. Come on, admit it. The second cheery scene was Nate and Maggie smiling lovingly at each other. Nate is finally happy.
But in true Six Feet Under fashion, the happiness is short-lived. Nate breaks up with Brenda and then dies shortly afterward. I kept hearing that one of the lead characters was going to die, but I didn't think it would be Nate. He had gone through such health problems already that he'd be too predictable. But the way they did it — having him come out of the coma and seem fine, only to die while David was napping beside him — wow. And can we talk about Nate's final dream where David turns into Shaggy from Scooby Doo? For a moment there I was like, "Oh, no! They are not saying the entire series was a dream, pulling a Dallas-Bobby-in-the-shower moment." Thankfully, that dream was, indeed, just a dream. And how strange to see "Nathaniel Samuel Fisher Jr. —1965-2005" right before the closing credits.
